The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats” from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.
She is tasked with working as a “bridge”: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as “1847” or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machines,” “Spotify,” and “the collapse of the British Empire.” But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts.
Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how—and whether she believes—what she does next can change the future.
Review: In Britain in the near future, our unnamed narrator has landed her dream job working for a government ministry that is tasked with gathering expats from across history to determine whether time travel is feasible. She is charged with serving as a "bridge" or live in companion and guide to "1847", Commander Graham Gore, who according to history died in a failed Artic expedition in 1845. Graham is astonished by modern day Britain - its technology, its customs, his assignment to live with an unmarried woman. Over the next year, the two transition from roommates to something deeper. But they also discover that there is more to the Ministry's work than was originally known.
I was truly fascinated by the premise of this book, which was an interesting take on time travel fiction (albeit one that has had similar iterations by earlier writers). I have also always personally imagined what it would feel like for someone from the past to witness electricity and modern conveniences like washing machines. So, it was gratifying to witness our narrator explaining modern life to Graham. Much of their conversations revolve around her explaining what is now considered racist or sexist and it was interesting to contemplate explaining that to someone coming from a very different time.
I also loved the flashbacks to the Franklin expedition! I love reading about Artic expeditions and have read several non-fiction books about them in the past. It was thrilling to have a real historical expedition and figure from history threaded into the novel.
This book has been really talked up on bookstagram and the online book community, so I had high expectations. I was surprised by how little happens for much of the book. I kept waiting for the big reveal of why the ministry was doing all of this, why they selected Graham, and was continually disappointed. In some ways I found the connection between them stilted. In the final twenty percent of the book, we finally get a lot of action, and it is all very dramatic but also more violent than I would have guessed.
Stars: 3.5
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